Shake Shack by the Numbers: How a Single Stand Became a $1 Billion Company in 10 Years

Shake Shack opened its first permanent location, a small stand in Madison Square Park, in July 2004. Now, just over a decade later, recent speculation is that a forthcoming Shake Shack IPO could be valued as high as $1 billion.

Granted, founder Danny Meyer isn’t your average burger flipper. As the leader of his highly respected Union Square Hospitality Group, Meyer has won 25 James Beard Foundation Awards and been repeatedly named one of the best restaurateurs in the world.

Still, New Yorkers who fondly remember Shake Shack as that little place in the park where you have to wait in long lines to get a burger might be astonished by just how quickly the Shack has grown into the juggernaut it is today.

We’ve broken things down by the numbers:

BY YEAR

2001 – The hot dog cart that would eventually morph into Shake Shack starts operations in Madison Square Park.

2004 – The first Shake Shack opens in Madison Square Park on June 12.

2008 – The second Shake Shack location opens on the Upper West Side in October.

2010 – The first Shake Shack outside New York opens in South Beach, Florida. Shake Shack ends the year with seven locations.

2011 – Brooklyn gets its first Shake Shack. So do Connecticut, Washington, DC; Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (the first two international locations). Shake Shack ends the year with 14 locations (12 in the US).